


The Avengers Club

by TrishArgh, velvetjinx



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Ableist Language, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - The Breakfast Club Fusion, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Canon Disabled Character, Captain America Reverse Big Bang 2018, F/M, First Kiss, Fisticuffs, Fluff, Homophobic Language, Inspired by a Movie, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Sexual References, mentions of child abuse, mentions of physical abuse, steve rogers gets into fights no matter the universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 01:29:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14885046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrishArgh/pseuds/TrishArgh, https://archiveofourown.org/users/velvetjinx/pseuds/velvetjinx
Summary: Five high school kids, seemingly so different, are thrown into detention together one Saturday. During the course of the day, the group discover that maybe, when you’re a teenager, differences are surface only and you’re all in it together, pitted against the teachers who want to pigeonhole you into categories: a brain; an athlete; a princess; a basket case; and a criminal.





	The Avengers Club

**Author's Note:**

> **velvetjinx:** oh gosh okay well first of all I want to thank Trish for being a fantastic collab partner and supplying the most beautiful art. You rock, sweetie! I also want to thank Liv for the beta, and the CabRBB slack chat for cheerleading. And you, the reader, for reading our fic.  <3
> 
> Soundtrack is [available here](https://open.spotify.com/user/jinksed/playlist/4zHHJ35nSmj3IBQbCIsoRF?si=iIhLK7rRS9W_ipE_nSAk5A).
> 
>  **TrishArgh:** It is here! OMG! Thank you so much to Jinx for taking over last minute and coming up with the most amazing story! I love you to bits and pieces!  
>  I wanna thank eyesofshinigami for being amazing and without this wouldn't be happening <3 Thank you to the RBB Mods and the RBB Slack for hand holding while drawing and especially to Fox for always reassuring me that Clint doesn't have an extra head ;) ILU! now.. go read the fic, it's awesome!

Steve stared up at the school building and sighed. Here he was again—seven on a Saturday morning, heading to detention. His mom had looked at him in disappointment when he had told her.

“Again, Steve?” she’d asked, and Steve had frowned.

“Mom, it’s not my fault! I couldn’t let them say those things to that girl.”

His mom had hugged him, then turned away, coughing. “Sweetheart, I know that you want to put all the wrongs in the world right, but sooner or later if you keep trying to do that with your fists you’re going to end up getting hurt.”

She was right, but that wasn’t going to stop him. He couldn’t leave things well enough alone, he just couldn’t. It wasn’t in his nature. 

He trudged up the steps to the building, making his way into the library. There was no one else in there, so he made himself comfortable in his usual seat—front row on the right, next to the aisle. 

A few minutes later, he was surprised to see the Senior Class President—Natasha Romanoff—walk in. She always seemed to sway as she walked, which Steve had always put down to the fact that she had been studying ballet since she could walk. It was like she never really walked—she danced everywhere.

She raised her eyebrow at Steve, who smiled at her. Natasha rolled her eyes and collapsed into the seat at the other end of his table. they weren’t particularly close friends, but they’d say hello to each other and she sometimes discussed various class issues with him—like if anyone on the spirit squad needed a pick me up or someone was being mean to any of her gang. Not that she couldn’t handle it, but he knew that it was nice to have backup. 

The next to come in was the archery team captain, Clint Barton. He smiled at Natasha, before heading to the second row on the left. Steve knew that the two of them were friends, but they were also the ‘will they, won’t they’ story of the senior class. Everyone knew about Clint’s crush on Natasha, but no one knew how Natasha felt about Clint. She liked to play her cards close to her chest. 

Neither of them were particular troublemakers, and Steve wondered what they could possibly be in detention for.

At two minutes to the hour, the door swung open wide and in walked Bucky Barnes. His real name was James, but calling him that was the quickest way to get punched, by either Bucky or one of his nasty cronies. Steve really hated that guy.

Or at least, he wanted to. 

Truth was, if Steve really let himself think about it, he didn’t hate Bucky at all. Or he did, hated everything he stood for, hated his friends… but mostly, Steve hated how much he wanted Bucky. He wanted to _reform_ him, which was nearly as pathetic as his crush itself. Steve knew that Bucky's home life wasn’t great, and that he had a little sister in middle school who he loved more than anything, and that the guys he hung around with were jerks. But he really wanted to know more. Bucky was ridiculously handsome, with long brown hair that came down past his chin, piercing blue-gray eyes, and cheekbones to die for. He also had a prosthetic arm, functional, but he seemed generally to be pretty self-conscious about it. It was yet another thing that you weren’t allowed to mention in case you got punched. 

Bucky collapsed into the seat behind Steve, without even looking at him. The seconds ticked by, and just as the clock at the back of the room was about to hit seven, the door opened, and there stood Pierce, the Vice Principal, eyes narrowed and lips turned up in a sneer. He took two steps into the room and opened his mouth to speak when a bundle of cosy sweater and long brown hair pushed past him, going all the way around before settling at the back of the row behind Steve. Everyone gaped at the new arrival, who Steve was pretty sure was Wanda Maximoff, school witch and all round weirdo, until Pierce cleared his throat.

“You all know why you’re in here. You’re not the only ones who have to give up their Saturday for this. I thought we’d try something a little different today.” He paused, making sure they were paying attention, before continuing. “You will not study, you will not sleep. You will sit here, and you will write me a 1000 word essay on who you think you are. Due at the end of the day. You will not speak to each other. If I hear any noise—and my office is right across the hall and I _will_ hear you—I’ll be straight in here and you’ll be in a world of trouble.”

He turned on his heel and walked out, leaving the five of them sitting in silence. Steve looked at the blank sheet of paper in front of him and frowned. Who did he think he was?

As he thought about it, he felt something hit the back of his head and looked around to see a balled up piece of paper lying on the floor behind him. He glanced up and saw Bucky looking a little too innocent. Steve glared at him then turned back to his paper.

“Don’t you two look cute,” Bucky crooned suddenly, and both Steve and Natasha turned around this time. “You dating? Boyfriend, girlfriend? _Lovers_?”

Natasha rolled her eyes and turned back around, muttering something in Russian under her breath, but Steve narrowed his eyes at Bucky. 

“What the hell is your problem?” he asked quietly, mindful of Pierce just across the hall.

“It’s a simple question,” Bucky said, his tone bland. But in his eyes there was a challenge, and Steve had never been one to back down from a challenge.

“I know you think you’re some big man, or whatever,” Steve said hotly, “but really you’re just annoying. You’re a nuisance, not important. So leave us alone or I’ll swat you like the irritating fly you are.”

Something flashed in the depths of Bucky's eyes, but it was gone before Steve could recognize what it was. “If you say so,” was all he said, shrugging and sitting back in his chair.

The next few minutes passed in silence, before Bucky started again. “So, Rogers, if Romanoff isn’t your girlfriend, are you saying you don’t _have_ a girlfriend?”

Steve sighed, turning around again to see Bucky, looking smug. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no, I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Boyfriend?”

Steve grit his teeth. “Nope, not one of those either.”

“Huh.” Bucky looked thoughtful. “Does that mean you’re a cherry? It’s okay if you are, you know.”

“That is precisely none of your business,” Steve retorted, about to turn back around when Bucky grinned at him.

“I think you are. Oh, maybe you’ve got a little hot and heavy—back of the car, shirt off, pants unbuttoned, over the underwear ‘til you come in them and you’re uncomfortable on the drive home. You ever had a hand on your cock that wasn’t your own?”

Steve fought a blush. The first image that came to mind was him in the back of Bucky's car, in exactly the state Bucky had described, the two of them frotting against each other until they were both sweat soaked and sticky.

“You’re an asshole, you know that?” Steve growled, and Bucky smirked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. 

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“Have you?” Natasha asked, turning around suddenly. “Or are your gross friends too heterosexual to experiment with someone like you?”

Bucky tensed. “Don’t talk about my friends like that.”

“Your friends are assholes.” Natasha shrugged, looking completely unconcerned. “There’s a reason everyone hates them, and you.”

“Well, I know Rogers definitely hates me,” Bucky said, mouth twisting as he tried to grin. 

“Can you blame him? Your friends are always ripping into him.”

Bucky looked confused. “No they don’t.”

“Um, yeah, they do. Usually when you’re not around,” Natasha said, scoffing. “Two days ago Steve punched Brock because Brock called him a useless fag.”

Bucky’s gaze flicked to Steve. “Is that true, Rogers?”

“Yeah,” Steve replied, shrugging.

“Is that why you’re in here?”

“Nope.”

Bucky looked at him curiously. “Then why are you in here?”

Before Steve could answer, Pierce came in, glaring. 

“You’d all better be behaving yourselves,” he said, sneering. “It occurred to me that some of you might have been unprepared in terms of bringing stationery, so I’ve brought some pencils.” He threw them down onto the table in front of Steve. “Now get on with it.”

Pierce turned on his heel and left. As soon as he was gone, Bucky got up and padded lightly over to the door, unscrewing the top so that it wouldn’t stay open. As he walked back to his seat, the door banged closed and Bucky ran the rest of the way, throwing himself into his seat just as Pierce flung open the door and marched in. His face was red and scrunched up, and his fists were clenching.

“What the hell just happened? Why is this door closed?”

“Maybe a screw fell out?” Bucky said casually, and Pierce glared at him.

“Did you do this?”

“No, why would I do that?” Bucky scoffed.

“He didn’t,” Natasha said suddenly. “The door just closed by itself.”

“Screws do fall out, sir,” Clint added.

Steve watched Pierce in fascination. He’d never seen anyone more likely to burst a blood vessel in their temple. Pierce made a couple of failed attempts to prop the door open, then gave up, looking a little rumpled and flustered. “Fine, it’s gonna have to stay like this. But I can still hear you if you make any noise so you’d all better keep your yaps shut.”

“Yes sir,” Bucky said, giving Pierce a mock salute, and Pierce narrowed his eyes.

“I’ve got my eye on you, Barnes,” he muttered before leaving, the door closing with a decided bang behind him.

The rest of the morning passed in boredom, all of the inhabitants of the room nearly falling into a deep slumber. By lunchtime, Steve was in a deep doze, when the door flew open and Pierce strode in.

None of them even looked up.

“Right, lunchtime,” Pierce announced. “Who needs to go to the bathroom?”

All of them raised their hands.

After they’d all been allowed to use the bathroom, Clint and Wanda were sent to the cafeteria to hunt down some sodas for them. Steve, Natasha, and Bucky were left alone, and Steve was doing a pretty good job of ignoring Bucky until he felt a kicking on the back of his chair. He grit his teeth and tried to let it go, until the kicking became more insistent, and he turned quickly.

“What the hell do you want, Barnes?” Steve snarled.

Bucky smirked. “I knew you couldn’t ignore me even if you tried.”

Steve scowled and turned back around, while Natasha gave him a sympathetic look. Steve had the sneaking suspicion that Natasha knew about his ridiculous, hopeless crush on Bucky—Natasha tended to know everything—which really didn’t make him feel any better about it.

When Clint and Wanda returned from the cafeteria, they got out their lunches. All except for Bucky, who grabbed his can of soda and sat cross legged on his table, looking over Steve's shoulder. 

“Whatcha got there, Rogers?”

Steve sighed. “Soup. Chips. A banana.”

“Sounds good. What about you, Romanoff?”

“Pelmeni,” Natasha told him, tone bored.

They all turned to Clint, who was taking a huge flask out of his bag, along with a bag of potato chips. 

“Soup?” Bucky asked.

Clint shook his head. “Coffee.”

Steve, Bucky, and Natasha looked at each other, eyebrows raised, but none of them said anything. They all then turned to Wanda, who was chopping fresh herbs with a plastic knife while muttering to herself. They all quickly turned away, except Natasha, who was watching Wanda fondly.

“Making a spell?” Natasha asked suddenly, and everyone looked at her in surprise. 

Wanda grinned at her. “You know me so well, Nat. Cooking magic. All good stuff.”

“You putting a curse on someone?” Bucky asked.

Wanda rolled her eyes. “Yes, Barnes, that’s exactly what I’m doing, and you’d better watch out because you’re next if you don’t quit annoying everyone.”

Bucky looked taken aback, and Steve hid a grin.

Soon, they had all finished their lunch—all except Bucky, who didn’t seem to have any. “You not eating lunch?” Steve asked.

“Lunch? Lunch is for rich people,” Bucky scoffed, and Steve raised an eyebrow. 

“I’m not rich.”

Bucky shrugged. “Yeah, but your mom actually cares about whether or not you die of starvation. Must be nice.”

“So, what, your parents don’t care?”

“What do you think?” Bucky asked, snorting. “My parents don’t give a good goddamn about me, or my welfare. If I can avoid a beating it’s a good day.”

“Is that true?” Steve asked quietly.

“Of course it’s not true,” Clint scoffed. “It’s all part of the persona.”

“Oh, you think this is an act?” Bucky asked, voice deadly calm.

“Did I stutter?”

Bucky stalked over to Clint and used his prosthetic hand to pull up the sleeve of his other arm, pointing to a small, round scar. “You see that? That’s about the size and shape of the end of a cigar, wouldn’t you say? See, that’s what happens in my house when you spill paint in the garage. _Did I stutter_?”

Clint looked away, and Bucky glared around the room. “You know what? I don’t have to sit with you assholes any more. I’m done.”

He stalked over to the spiral staircase behind the desks and scaled it quickly, sitting with his back to them all. Steve turned to Clint.

“You shouldn’t have said that.”

“How was I supposed to know? He lies about so much shit,” Clint retorted, but even Steve could tell that his heart wasn’t in the insult.

Steve got up and climbed the spiral staircase, standing behind where Bucky was sitting. 

“Can I help you?” Bucky asked snidely.

“Uh, you wanna share my chips? I’m not really a big eater.”

Bucky looked at Steve suspiciously, before coming to a decision and nodding, gesturing to the space beside him. 

Steve let Bucky eat most of the chips as they occasionally shared a small, secret smile, and when they were done, Bucky pursed his lips thoughtfully before heading down the staircase.

“Come on, gang, let’s go.”

“Go? Go where?” Natasha asked. 

“My locker. I left something in there that I need.”

“And we all need to go?”

Bucky shrugged, and they all looked at each other before getting up. Steve figured he might as well.

They somehow managed to avoid Pierce on their way to Bucky's locker. When they got there, Bucky took out a half bottle of vodka, and Steve's eyes widened. 

“Are you kidding, Barnes?” he whispered, and Bucky just grinned at him.

There was some argument about how they should get back, but Clint won out, saying they should go through the activities hall. When they got there, though, it was locked, and as they made their way back they could hear Pierce coming down the corridor. They managed to avoid him for about five minutes, but then he cut off their only way back and they looked at each other, worried.

“We’re screwed,” Natasha said with a sigh.

“No,” Bucky said thoughtfully. “No, not we. Just me.” He took the bottle out of his pocket and handed it to Clint. “Guard this with your life.”

Clint took the bottle, confused, and Bucky ran down one of the corridors, making a huge racket. The others hid until Pierce was past, then made their way quickly back to the library.

Once there, they all looked at each other.

“I can’t believe he'd sacrifice himself for all of us,” Steve said softly.

“Yeah, all of us, right,” Natasha said scornfully, but refused to elaborate.

A few minutes later, Bucky burst into the room, closely followed by a yelling Pierce. Bucky flopped into his seat and Pierce glared around the room.

“I’m afraid that you won’t have the _pleasure_ of Mr Barnes’s company for the rest of the day as he has decided to play the fool. Grab your stuff, Barnes—you’re coming with me.”

Steve watched guiltily as Bucky picked up his tattered rucksack and followed Pierce out the room, swaggering as he went. As he reached the door, Bucky turned back and winked at Steve, before the door closed behind him.

The others sat in silence for a few moments, unable to believe that Bucky had put himself in that position for them all. Steve frowned to himself. Maybe… was it possible that Bucky wasn’t so bad after all? The guys he hung out with were definitely assholes, but Bucky himself? For him to do that, to make it so that they all got off free while he got in more trouble? It was almost noble.

It seemed that no one much felt like talking after that, and they all sat together quietly. Steve took out his sketch pad and began to sketch a face that quickly turned into Bucky. He blushed when he realized, and tried to hide it from Natasha, although by the small smile on her face it looked as though she had already seen it.

The silence had become almost oppressive when suddenly there was a huge crash-bang from above. They all looked up to see a hole in the ceiling where once there had been a ceiling tile, and Bucky's grinning face appeared over the railing.

“What the hell was that noise?” Pierce roared from his office, and Bucky’s eyes widened. He dashed down the spiral staircase, and dived under Steve and Natasha's table as the door was flung open. “What was that noise?” Pierce barked.

“Uh, noise, sir?” Clint said, expression innocent. “There wasn’t a noise.”

“There was a noise, I heard it!”

Steve suddenly felt Bucky's head between his knees, nuzzling his inner thigh, and kicked him, making him yelp. Everyone suddenly started coughing to cover it.

“You mean that noise, sir?” Natasha asked.

“No, I don’t mean that noise.” Pierce paused, eyeing them all suspiciously, as they all looked back innocently. “I’ve got my eye on all of you.”

He stormed out, and Bucky climbed out from under the table. As soon as he was out, Steve hit him several times with his sketchbook. 

“What the hell?”

Bucky shrugged. “I couldn’t help myself.”

“Ugh.” 

Bucky ignored him and went over to Clint, holding out his hand. “Vodka, please.” Clint took the bottle from his pocket and handed it over, and Bucky smirked around the room before taking the bottle upstairs to the comfy chairs on the upper floor laid out for people to read on. The others looked at each other, then one by one they all got up and went upstairs to join him.

They passed the bottle around until they were all tipsy and giggling. Steve was sitting across from Bucky, and caught his eye, smiling. Bucky looked surprised, then smiled back, and the genuine smile lit up his face, making him look even more handsome. Steve ducked his head, suddenly shy, and when he looked back up Bucky was watching him, expression curious.

The group polished off the bottle and lay around on the comfy chairs. Steve's head was spinning slightly, and it was a pleasant feeling. He wondered how it would feel to kiss Bucky with a spinning head, then shook his head. That was never going to happen.

Natasha and Clint were snuggled together on one of the chairs, Natasha's head on Clint's shoulder. Steve raised an eyebrow at her, and she smiled at him, shrugging. Steve was glad if they had decided to get together. Natasha was a good person, and deserved to be happy.

He turned to see Wanda watching him speculatively. “So what are we all in for anyway?” she asked.

They all looked at each other, suddenly uncomfortable. Steve shrugged. “Bucky's asshole friend Brock made a nasty comment about one of the cheerleaders, like a really vile comment that I don’t even want to repeat, so I clocked him one. Was stupid enough to do it in front of the teachers, so here I am.”

Bucky suddenly looked slightly uncomfortable. “No wonder you hate us,” he said quietly. 

Steve's heart pounded, and he wondered if he should tell Bucky that he didn’t hate all of them. But the moment passed, and Bucky remained looking pretty sad. 

“I slapped a girl for insulting one of my friends,” Natasha said suddenly. “She said that my friend should go back to Russia because she wasn’t welcome here since she’s gay. So I slapped this girl, and Pierce saw me and gave me detention.”

Clint cleared his throat. “I was late for class because I didn’t hear the bell,” he said briefly. 

Natasha looked at him. “How could you not hear the bell?”

“I was distracted.”

“By what?”

Clint looked deeply uncomfortable, before bursting out, “I was bird watching, okay? I thought I saw a Western Tanager and that’s really unusual for anywhere east of Colorado.”

“You’re a bird watcher?” Steve asked slowly, and Clint blushed.

“So what?”

“But you’re a jock!”

Natasha grinned. “Never judge a book by its cover, Rogers. Just because he’s captain of the archery team doesn’t mean he doesn’t have other interests.” She turned her face to Clint. “I like it.”

“You do?”

“Yeah.” She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss, and he smiled goofily. 

“Awesome.”

They all turned to Bucky, who shrugged. “Nothing as noble or interesting as you guys. I flooded a bathroom for fun. Guess I’m just the bad egg of the group.”

“Why did you do that?” Steve asked.

Bucky shrugged again. “I was bored, Brock was egging me on. I figured, you know, why not?”

“I don’t know why you hang out with them.”

“They’re my friends.”

“Some friends. They make you do shit like that then leave you to take the rap for it. That’s not real friendship.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah, let me just pick and choose who I’m friends with because people are lining up around the block to be my friend. No one wants to be friends with a delinquent _cripple_.” Bucky sneered, and Steve paled. “Come on, Rogers. No one cares about me. No one except my little sister. So yeah, my friends aren’t the best, but they’re the only ones who give me the time of day, make me feel like I’m worth something.”

“But you’re worth more than that,” Steve blurted out, then blushed.

“Then you’re the only one who thinks so.”

Natasha shook her head. “He’s not the only one.”

“Doesn’t anyone want to know why I’m in here?” Wanda asked suddenly, breaking through the tension. They all looked at her, and she grinned. “I’m here because I knew Nat would be and we hardly ever get a chance to talk these days.”

“Wait, they didn’t make you come in to detention?” Steve asked, gaping.

“Nope. I chose to be here.”

“You are so weird.”

Wanda grinned. “Yeah, maybe. But I’d rather be weird than conform.” 

Steve grinned back at her. “Fair point.”

He glanced up at Bucky, who was looking at him with an unreadable expression on his face, but it quickly cleared. 

“So, uh, you have a little sister?” Steve asked him. He knew about her, of course, but it seemed like the thing to say. 

Bucky’s smile softened. “Yeah. Her name is Becca. She’s in middle school, and she’s a pain in the ass but if anyone else said that I’d fight them, you know? She’s the only reason I still…” He paused, then mumbled, “She’s the only reason I still stay at home, otherwise I would have been out of there before now. But I don’t want her to bear the brunt of it, you know?”

Steve felt his heart melt a little at Bucky's confession, and gave Bucky an understanding smile. Bucky's eyes widened and he cleared his throat. 

“Anyway, uh, it doesn’t matter. One day I’m gonna get out of there and take her with me.”

“Yeah, you will,” Steve said softly. He sighed. “My mom is great, but I know she struggles with me getting into so many fights. Plus, you know, we don’t have much money so she gets stressed a lot.”

“My parents don’t give a damn about me,” Natasha said, rolling her eyes. “They just use me to get back at each other. It’s pretty messed up.”

“Yeah, my parents put a lot of pressure on me with the whole archery thing,” Clint said softly. “Like my dad always pushes me because he wants me to be the best, otherwise what’s the point? If I was average I don’t think he’d have any time for me.”

“At least you have parents,” Wanda retorted quietly. “Mine and Pietro’s foster parents feed and clothe us, but you can tell we’re second class citizens compared to their own kids. They don’t really give a damn.”

Pietro was Wanda’s twin brother—a quiet guy who didn’t really join in anything, so you’d barely know he was there. Steve really liked him, though. 

“Maybe we’re not all so different after all,” he said, tone thoughtful, and Bucky gave him an appraising look.

“Maybe not. I guess you’re all okay,” was all Bucky would say. 

“What happens on Monday?” Wanda asked suddenly. “Do we all go back to the way we were before? Where we don’t really speak to each other?”

Steve shook his head. “I mean, I’d like to think you’re all my friends now. I wouldn’t ever ignore any of you.”

Clint and Natasha both nodded. “Agreed,” Natasha said. “Things aren’t the same as they were.”

Bucky frowned. “I don’t know. My friends—”

“Your friends are assholes,” Natasha told him hotly. “Fuck’s sake, Barnes, I’d rather you hung out with my friends than that crowd of delinquents.”

“Yeah, right,” Bucky scoffed. “Like that would ever happen.”

“So are you going to ignore me too?” Steve asked quietly. “I mean, your friends hate me. If you spoke to me, they’d probably shun you anyway. I’m too gay, too whatever, for them.”

Bucky paled. “Steve, I don’t…”

“I am. And I’m not a misogynistic dickwad, so I wouldn’t fit in with them.”

“He’s really not,” Natasha added. “Steve bakes cookies for the cheerleaders and lectures them on body positivity and accepting themselves for who they are. Since he came to the school hardly any of the girls in our class have eating disorders compared to the national average.”

“So what you’re saying is you’d rather be friends with people who don’t even treat you well than ruin your reputation?” Steve could feel angry tears welling up in his eyes and wiped them away furiously. “You’d rather be thought of as an asshole than the decent guy you obviously are?”

Bucky looked at him helplessly, and Steve couldn’t take it anymore. He got up and stormed off, back down to the desks downstairs.

He’d been sitting there alone for a few minutes, hot tears running down his cheeks, when he heard someone behind him. “I’m not in the mood, Natasha,” he said thickly, wiping his face.

“Hey.”

He turned around to see Bucky standing there, looking concerned. 

“What do you want?” he asked harshly, and Bucky winced.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I really didn’t think you’d care so much. I mean, you hate me, I knew you hated me.”

“If you knew I hated you then why did you take the rap for me and everyone else earlier? Why didn’t you just let us all take the blame?”

Bucky blushed and looked at his tattered sneakers. “Because I don’t hate you,” he murmured.

“Maybe I don’t hate you either. I hate who you hang out with, hate the bullshit pranks you pull, but I don’t… I don’t hate you, Bucky.”

Bucky looked up at Steve, eyes wide and mouth agape. “You don’t? I mean, really?”

“I don’t.”

Bucky sat down next to him, twisting his fingers together. “When you say you don’t hate me, do you mean you have no opinion of me at all, or…?”

 _Shit. Oh well, in for a penny,_ Steve thought.”No, I mean… I mean I really, really don’t hate you,” he replied, dropping his gaze before looking up at Bucky through his eyelashes.

Bucky bit his lip. “So if I asked you to go steady with me, what would you say?”

“I’d say not as long as you’re hanging out with Brock Rumlow and his crowd. They’re the opposite of everything I stand for, and I couldn’t go steady with someone who condones that behavior.”

“What if I stopped hanging out with them? I mean, they disrespected me when they ignored the fact I told them you were off limits, so that alone makes me not care about them even if it wasn’t for all the other stuff.”

Steve smiled softly. “Then I’d say yes.” He glanced up at the clock, and he gaped. “Shit, it’s nearly five! You’d better get back to wherever Pierce put you before he realizes you’re not there!”

Bucky nodded and stood, then held out his hand. “Walk me there?”

Steve smiled, standing up and taking Bucky's hand. “Yeah.”

They walked in silence down the corridor to one of the janitor’s closets, and found the key to still be in the lock. Bucky unlocked it, and led Steve inside. 

“So, uh—” Steve cut Bucky off by leaning in and kissing him softly, then drawing back. Bucky’s face lit up in a smile, and he cupped Steve's face in his palm, drawing him in for another kiss. “You’d better go before Pierce catches you,” Bucky murmured against his lips, and Steve nodded.

“I’ll see you outside.”

Steve locked Bucky in then walked quickly back to the library. As soon as he was in the door, Natasha grinned at him.

“So, did you get your man?”

Steve nodded. “Yeah, I did.”

“You think he’ll turn over a new leaf for you?”

“You know,” Steve replied thoughtfully, “I don’t think he’ll have to. He’s always been a good guy. He just didn’t know it.”

Natasha smirked and put her head on Clint's shoulder. “Looks like things worked out pretty well, then.”

At long last, five p.m. came, and Steve went out into the bright sunlight, where Bucky was waiting on him. 

“I can’t believe you would like someone like me,” Bucky said, tone awed, and Steve kissed him deeply. 

“Believe it. I think I always knew you were really a good guy. I saw that potential. And now I know. But what do you think Brock and his friends will say?”

Bucky kissed Steve again. “You know what? I really don’t care.”

Steve took one of the colored woven bracelets from his wrist and tied it around Bucky's prosthetic one. “So you don’t forget about me.” He laced his fingers with Bucky's, and smiled. “So, hey. How about you walk me home?”


End file.
